


Cough

by KatieBug1998



Series: Supernatural One-Shots, Sick Fics, Injured Fics, and Hurt/Comfort [16]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Big Brother Dean, Coughing, Dehydration, Pneumonia, Sick Sam Winchester, Sickfic, Teen Dean Winchester, Teen Sam Winchester, Teenchesters, Worried Dean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-10-09 08:49:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10408404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatieBug1998/pseuds/KatieBug1998
Summary: Sam is sick (and only getting worse) while John and Dean are away on a hunt.





	

It started out as a small cough. Sam didn't think much of it. He felt fine. He kept going to school. Senior year; can't afford to miss anything. Dean, of course, noticed. Sam assured him everything was fine. Despite this, Dean felt a little more than uneasy when he and their dad left for a hunt a few days later. He promised to call at least once a day if he could then he exited the motel, shooting Sam a look of brotherly concern before closing the door behind him.

• • •

Dean hasn't called for a week and Sam is only getting worse. He coughs more frequently and it sounds and feels different. Now it hurts too. There's a pain in his chest and Sam keeps rubbing his hand against his sternum to try and relieve the pain, but it doesn't really help. Not to mention it's getting hard to breathe and he's so cold.

When it was obvious how sick Sam really was, his homeroom teacher told him to go home and rest. Now he's been in bed for days - he's lost count, not really caring. He's been sleeping, or trying to considering his constant coughing, most of the time. He honestly can't remember the last time he ate. There's no food in the crappy motel room, but he's not hungry anyways. He hasn't taken any medicine. They'd been out of aspirin for awhile and it's not like he's really able to go out and get anything. The only times he moves is to take a leak, change the TV channel, and call Dean.

It's not the first time he hasn't heard from his brother while he was on a hunt. Nevertheless, it always scares him.

As Sam sits up, a wave of dizziness hits him and black spots pop up in his vision. He waits until it passes then stands up. Another wave of dizziness hits him, but it doesn't pass this time.

• • •

Sam wakes up on the floor, unaware of how much time has passed. Maybe it's time to call Bobby, he concedes. He'd thought about it before but kept telling himself that it was pointless. Dean would call soon and he and their dad would be back in no time. Apparently, that's not the case.

He grips the comforter on the bed, pulling himself up until he's sitting down on the side of the bed. He reaches over to pick up the phone on the bedside table. It feels heavy in his hand.

Bobby picks up on the second ring. "Singer," his gruff voice answers.

Sam inhales slowly, trying to get as much air into his lungs as possible. He winces at the wheezing sound his breathe makes. "Bobby." He takes another, more shallow breathe. "It's Sam."

"Sam? What's wrong? You sound like Hell warmed over."

"I kind of passed out," he says, embarrassed. "I think I have pneumonia."

"You pigheaded Winchesters," Bobby mutters. "I'm guessing John and Dean ain't there."

Sam shakes his head but then realizes Bobby can't see him. "No." He takes a shallow, wheezing breath. "They're on a hunt." Sam stands briefly so he can move under the covers. He's shivering. He has to stop talking when he's seized by a sudden coughing fit. He holds the phone away from his ear and reaches to the side to get a pathetic excuse for a tissue out of the box beside him. He covers his mouth with it and when he's finally done coughing, he drops it in the trashcan next to the bed, not wanting to look at it. He puts the phone back to his ear.

"You with me, kid?"

"Yeah." God, his voice is shot to hell.

"Think you can drive yourself to a clinic or the hospital?"

"Dean and Dad have the car." He was about to add more when there was a beeping on the line. "Hold on, I think that's them." Sam switches to the other line. "Dean?" he asks, hopefully.

"Hey, man, you okay?"

Sam sighs in relief at the sound of his brother's voice. "I think I've got pneumonia." Dean takes a deep breathe, which Sam envies, about to ask Sam an onslaught of questions, but Sam cuts him off. "Bobby's on the other line. Gimme a minute." He quickly switches over. "Bobby?"

"Yeah, Sam. I'm here," he says reassuringly.

"I gotta go; that was Dean." Sam lays down on his side, resting the phone on his cheek, and pulling the blankets up to his chin.

"Okay. Make sure you have John call me when you're done talking to him."

"Will do." Sam switches lines again. "Dean?" Dean asks him question after question. It's hard for Sam to focus, but he does the best he can at answering him. Dean finally determines, with the approval of their dad of course, that Sam needs to see a doctor.

Dean starts to explain why he and their dad didn't contact him but Sam couldn't care less. He just tells Dean he wants to sleep and to have their dad call Bobby back. "Get some rest, Sammy. We'll be there in a few hours."

• • •

Sam groans and rolls over when the light from the open door hits his face. He hears two bags drop next to the door and then two sets of footsteps. He opens his eyes slowly to see Dean and John staring down at him.

"How ya doing, son?"

"Not so good, sir." His voice sounds weak even though he's trying his hardest to sound not so pathetic. It's even hard for him to just admit this little bit.

"I'll bet," John says. Dean reaches out, touching Sam's forehead to gauge his temperature and then brushing some of his sweaty bangs to the side. Sam closes his eyes. "Dean, you help him get changed and then take him to the car. I have to talk to the people at the front desk." Sam feels his father's heavy hand squeeze his shoulder once.

"Yes, sir," Dean responds.

After John leaves, Sam opens his eyes and watches Dean gather up some of his clothes. He sits up slowly, more black spots appearing than last time. Perfect time for another coughing fit to hit. He quickly grabs a tissue and presses it to his mouth, letting his head drop. It's only second before Dean is sitting beside him, rubbing his back in soothing circles. When it's over, Sam's about to throw away the tissue, but Dean grabs his wrist. Sam makes a noise of complaint, but he knows Dean has to see it for when he talks to the doctor. "Looks like something out of Alien, doesn't it," Dean says, playing it off. Sam groans and leans against his brother's shoulder. He tosses the tissue in the trash.

"All right, little bro. Let's get you dressed."

Sam lifts his head off Dean's shoulder. He shrugs off his flannel and immediately begins to shiver when the cold air hits his skin.

"You're cold?" Dean asks.

"Yeah." He starts to take off his shirt, but it's too difficult, so Dean has to help him. When Dean is done dressing Sam like he's a three year old, the brothers leave.

• • •

Dean helps Sam inside while their dad parks the car. Dean tells him to sit tight while he talks to the woman at the check in desk. Sam leans his head back against the chair, closing his eyes and trying to control his breathing.

A minute later, Dean sits next to him and nudges Sam's arm with his elbow. Sam cracks an eye open to look at him. "So I worked my magic on the secretary over there and she said she'll bump you up on the list. It also helps that you look so pathetic," he jokes, grinning.

Sam rolls his eyes. "Whatever."

Time passes slowly as John fills out the form, occasionally asking Sam questions.

Sam drifts in and out of sleep, head resting against Dean's shoulder.

After some time, Sam hears his name called, well his fake name.

Sam stands up and immediately gets dizzy. Just as he's thinking about how embarrassing it would be to pass out in front of a whole room of people and his dad and brother, he does.

• • •

His hearing comes back to him before his vision does. He hears his dad's voice and then a stranger's voice. He slowly opens his eyes. The men continue talking but they're cut off by Dean saying, "Guys?" Then louder, "Guys." Dean gently turns Sam's head to the side so he's looking at him. "Sam?"

Sam closes his eyes again. "That's me." Dean laughs once.

"Welcome back, Sam," says, presumably, a doctor. "How're you feeling?"

"Stupid question," he responds, tiredly and unthinkingly.

"Sam," his father says somewhat sharply. "Don't be rude."

"It's fine," the doctor assures him then addresses Sam. "So, it seems you passed out from dehydration and maybe lack of oxygen, so I put in an IV to combat the dehydration and started you on oxygen." That's when he notices the tube resting under his nose and over his ears and the feeling of tape holding the IV in place on his hand.

Sam opens his eyes again and looks at Dean's green ones. "Stop lookin' at me like that; it's creepy."

"Shut up, man. You scared the shit outta us."

Sam lifts his hand, the tape around the IV pulling at the skin on his hand. He rubs his fingers over his eyes, embarrassed. He puts his hand down and looks at the doctor, a kind looking man with dark hair. "So, Sam, you have pneumonia, and it seems to be fairly severe. If the fluids and oxygen don't help you improve or you get worse in the next few hours, you'll need to go to the hospital."

"What?" Sam starts to sit up, but Dean puts a firm hand on his shoulder. "I can't go to the hospital," he practically pleads.

"Are you afraid of hospitals?" the doctor asks. "You don't have to worry -"

Sam shakes his hand, causing him to get dizzy again. He shuts his eyes. "It's not that."

"It's fine," John speaks up. Sam looks at him and John sends him a reassuring look. "We'll find some way to pay for it."

Sam nods, relieved, and relaxes.

The doctor sighs. "I have other patients to see. I'll come back in an hour." He directs the next sentence to John. "If he gets worse, even a little bit, find a nurse and tell them to get me and I'll come in as soon as possible."

"Thanks, doc," John and Dean say at the same time.

"You rest, Sam," John says.

"We'll be right here," Dean says.

Sam closes his heavy eyelids. "I'm glad you're here," he mumbles.

"Me too."


End file.
